Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/22/1997
The Insane Clown Posse had a cult following around their hometown of Detroit in the mid-'90s, eventually winning a major-label contract with
Jive. Their deal with
Jive was short-lived, since
Riddle Box didn't do so well. Still, they retained a devoted local following, which led to
Hollywood Records signing the group in 1996.
Hollywood spent a million dollars on the recording of
ICP's label debut,
The Great Milenko, which let the group work with name producers and guest artists like
Slash. As a result, it was a better record than its predecessors, boasting a tougher sound and some actual hooks, without losing the juvenile vulgarity that pleased their following. So, everything should have worked out --
ICP had a commercial album that would have brought them a big audience, if the marketplace could overlook the fact that the duo was dressed like evil clowns. But things didn't work out as planned. On the day of the release of
The Great Milenko,
Hollywood pulled the album from the market, claiming that they were unaware of the offensive content of the record. That seems a little unlikely, since a company wouldn't really sink a million dollars into a project being "unaware" of what it was about. Still, the resulting furor meant that
the Insane Clown Posse became national figures, and
The Great Milenko gained a sort of hip status. It's one of the better albums in
ICP's work.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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Number of reviews: 1
